Imprisonment
by cockycute
Summary: Regina captures Belle and locks her in a tower. Over the course of her imprisonment, Belle figures out that Regina and Rumplestiltskin were in love once too, and that shared love brings Belle and Regina closer together.


"I'm sparing you a lifetime of pain and misery." Regina spoke the word glibly, practically singing them. To any outsider, she seemed completely apathetic, but on the inside, Regina was bitterly remembering her own failed attempt to save Rumplestiltskin. Even though Regina was annoyed by Belle's earnestness and complete naivete, she wanted to help Belle see the light that her own mother had shown her. In Belle, Regina saw the same gentle nurturing spirit that Regina had once had in herself before Rumplestiltskin had destroyed it, but she also saw the same inner strength that her kindness had kept her from accessing. Regina wanted Belle to reach her full potential, and she knew that taking Belle's love away would. At least Belle wasn't completely hopeless, at least she had some fashion sense that Regina saw proof of in Belle's plunging neckline and formfitting fighting suit.  
Regina locked Belle up, hoping that this would be the adversity that Belle would overcome on the road to becoming the strong, powerful woman that she was meant to be, one of the few out there among all of those sniveling Snow White types, all of those women who only wanted love and nothing else. Nothing more, they had no desire to make any impact on the world, and it made Regina sick to watch. She admired women with more initiative, women who changed the world, whether for better or for worse, and Regina had a feeling that Belle would change the world for the better, if only she could fall out of love with that destructive Rumplestiltskin. Love took a person's power away and she wanted to help Belle keep hers. Maybe if Regina could keep Belle locked up long enough, then maybe the bitterness and mistrust that had invaded Regina's heart would invade Belle's too, and Belle would finally learn that she didn't need anyone or anything else besides power to make her happy.

"I will never stop fighting for him!" Belle passionately screamed at the top of her lungs. She pulled at the bars desperately even though she knew it was futile. Her human body was far too weak for her efforts to be useful. If she'd been a Yaoguai like Philip, she could have easily broken out of her cage, but she wasn't, so she stayed trapped. She wondered why the Queen kept doing everything in her power to ruin her life. Belle had never done anything to her, yet Regina seemed to find an almost vindictive pleasure in destroying Belle's love life. First Regina had played upon Belle's naivete to destroy her relationship with Rumplestiltskin, then Regina had locked Belle up in this cage. But no matter how angry Belle was with Regina, she was also greatful. If Regina hadn't tricked Belle into kissing Rumplestiltskin, then Belle wouldn't have learned that her love with Rumplestiltskin was true love. True, Belle and Rumplestiltskin would still be together, but Belle wouldn't know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that her love with Rumplestiltskin was true, and now that Belle had true love, she would never stop fighting to get it back. Belle still craved adventures, but she knew that the greatest adventure of all would be to transform Rumplestiltskin back into the man that he had once been. She knew that it would take a great deal of time and effort, but it would be worth it. After all, love was everything, and without it, you had nothing but an empty heart and a lonely life.  
Everyone else had treated Belle like she was nothing, but Rumplestiltskin treated her like she was everything. He made her feel beautiful, special, like she was the only thing in his life that mattered, it was so different from how her father and Gaston treated her, like she was some tiny, insignificant little insect who had no more worth than a pawn in one of their chess games. Rumplestiltskin made her feel that her life meant something, and she wouldn't give up that feeling for anything. Belle set her jaw with renewed determination. No matter what Regina did to her, Belle would never give up. She would fight for love, and she would show Regina that there were more important things in life than power. No matter what Regina thought or tried to teach Belle by keeping her apart from Rumplestiltskin, true love did exist, and it was something worth fighting for.  
Belle could see The Queen's castle rising in the distance. She sighed, knowing that her imprisonment in The Queen's dungeon was fast approaching. She searched for a rusty spot in the cage that she could kick through with her boot, but she couldn't find any, her cage was indestructable.  
"You can lock me up, but you'll never break my spirit!" Belle shouted at The Queen's carriage. There was no response. The carriage stopped and Regina's guards grabbed Belle's arms and hauled her out. Belle kicked her legs uselessly as she was dragged into a stone cell. At least this cage was bigger than the last. The door slammed and locked behind her, trapping her once again.

The next day, Regina brought Belle some new clothes. She knew that Belle's leather vest and pants probably weren't especially comfortable, and she desired, rather uncharacteristically, to not be needlessly cruel to her prisoner. Regina threw the clothes through the bars. They landed on Belle.  
"Put these on." Regina commanded. "I don't know how long you've been in those clothes, and you're starting to smell." She told Belle, even though she smelled fine, good even. She smelled like cherry blossoms, and chocolate, a delicacy that Regina hadn't eaten since her wedding to King Leopold. She had only tried it once, but she still remembered the taste. Her wedding was the last time that she had been truly happy. All that power, all that potential for her life. Nothing since had measured up to that last moment of happiness, that last moment of hope for the future, before all of her dreams had gone up in flames, and all she had been able to salvage were the pale ashes of what she had thought her life would hold. How wrong she had been. Regina learned the hard way that once love was lost, it could never be regained, the only thing that could be sustained was power, she had learned that lesson the hard way, and that had been painful, but it had helped her finally move on from Daniel, and after that, her life's path had changed, and even if it didn't make Regina happy, at least she knew that her life had a purpose. Regina was shocked out of her inner monologue by the sight of Belle naked.  
"Aren't you going to wait until I leave?" Regina asked her, both shocked and pleased by Belle's audacity.  
"At this point, I don't really care whether you think I'm ladylike or not." Regina smirked, subtly admiring Belle's curves. Apparently, it wasn't subtle enough. Belle noticed the Queen's stare and started joking with her. "There's a lot more where this came from, if you let me leave."  
"Don't flatter yourself." Regina sneered. Belle shrugged and slipped on the dress that Regina had given her, then walked up to the bars and kissed Regina, hoping to play on the loneliness that she knew was buried inside The Queen, to distract her and pull the key out of her pocket.  
Regina was caught completely by surprise. She hadn't been kissed since she had murdered Leopold. She had forgotten how nice it was, especially with Belle. She smelled even more like chocolate up close. She tasted like chocolate too, and she was the best kisser out of anyone that Regina knew. Regina kissed Belle back until she realized what Belle was trying to do. Regina jerked away.  
"Very crafty, I admire that, but seduction doesn't work on me. It hasn't for quite awhile. But it was valiant effort, nonetheless." Belle could see the pain in Regina's eyes. Just then, something clicked for her.  
"You loved Rumplestiltskin too." Belle stated. "That's why you keep trying to destroy our relationship!"  
"Don't be preposterous!" The Queen scoffed.  
"It's true isn't it. I'm sorry. But whatever happened between you two has nothing to do with me. I'm his true love-"  
"I am too! How do you think that I knew how to end your relationship? The exact same thing happened to me. I kissed him, and his face started to change, to become human again. He pushed me off of him, and kicked me out of his palace. I told him that I had never loved him, that no one ever could, then I left, and after that, we were nothing but rivals to each other, or pawns in each other's sick games. I lost the capacity for love after that, and I always assumed that he had too. At least until you came along."  
"Regina, I'm so sorry." Belle reached through the bars to comfort Regina, but Regina backed away from her, having regained her composure.  
"It's Your Majesty, and I don't need your pity." Regina walked away from Belle, disappearing down the stairs. Despite how Regina had treated her, Belle still pitied her. After all, even though Belle was locked in a tower, the person that Regina had really imprisoned was herself.


End file.
